The inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial was aimed at strengthening global supply chains for minerals essential for advanced technologies, defense, AI, robotics, batteries, and autonomous devices. Attendees ran the gamut from India and Japan to the European Commission to Qatar and the UAE, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and Kazakhstan, Thailand and the Philippines, and Israel and Jordan.
One focus was on the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement (FORGE), now led by South Korea, and Project Vault, under which the U.S. will create a Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve as a public-private partnership designed to store essential raw materials at facilities across the nation. Project Vault is backed by a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and $2 billion in private capital.
Secretary Rubio acknowledged that “As we embraced what was new and glamorous, we outsourced what seemed old and unfashionable … and one day we realized we had outsourced our economic security and our very future. We were at the mercy of whoever controlled the supply chains for these minerals.” Whover, of course, refers to the Peoples Republic of China.
Vice President JD Vance reminded 43 foreign ministers that, “As much as we talk about the modern economy, the digital economy, the high-tech economy … as much as data centers and technology and all of these incredible things that we’re all working on matter, fundamentally you still have an economy that runs on real things. And there is no realer thing than oil … and … critical minerals.”
Vance acknowledged that the international market for critical minerals has failed to create domestic markets or dignified jobs and is thus failing to keep nations safe. With attending nations representing close to two-thirds of global GDP, there is certainly the capacity to make ourselves more independent, more self-reliant – “and that’s what we should be doing.”
Vance lamented that across Europe and North America dozens of mining and processing initiatives have been suspended or completely abandoned because sustained price weakness made financing impossible. Even advanced economies with deep capital markets are finding their projects cannot clear costs.
Bad as it is in the developed world, only a tiny fraction of global mining investment is reaching the point of actual projects in resource-rich developing economies. Capital infusions require that investors are confident that markets will remain stable long enough to justify the long-term commitments – and that confidence has been lacking.
We have, Vance added, created a market distorted beyond recognition – one that punishes strategic investment, punishes diversification, and punishes long-term planning. The Critical Minerals Ministerial is aimed at reversing those trends toward rewarding, rather than punishing, providing the materials for the technologies of today and tomorrow.
Vance singled out the Biden Administration for its inactivity. “They never sat down and tried to understand what are the critical deficiencies in world supply chains.” By contrast, the Trump Administration has mobilized public financing tools at an unprecedented scale, providing up to $100 billion in lending authority for critical minerals to the Office of Strategic Capital.
To reverse the sad reality that the U.S. had not built a primary smelter since 1980, the Trump team has “overturned old orthodoxies and taken direct stakes in high-value mining and processing companies.” Just last month two new smelters were announced, one of which is already fully funded, said Vance.
All that said, the reason for the Ministerial is to align trade policy, development finance, and diplomatic engagement towards a shared strategic objective, said Vance. That objective is to diversify global supply in the critical minerals market while strengthening the partner countries who help all of us in this shared effort.
The Trump Administration formally proposed a concrete partnership mechanism to return the global critical minerals market to a healthier, more competitive state – a preferential trade zone for critical minerals, protected from external disruptions through enforceable price floors, with referenced prices at each stage of production that reflect real-world fair-market value.
Rubio noted that last October the U.S. secured over $10 billion in critical mineral agreements across five countries. In December, stakeholders from around the world attended the PAX Silica Summit to launch a partnership dedicated to building a resilient silicone supply chain.
Iwao Horii, Japan’s minister for foreign affairs, urged nations to work together to prevent supply chain disruptions and lauded the launch of FORGE as an important vehicle for focusing on supply chain diversification. He promised Japan’s unwavering support on every aspect of demand and supply, mining and refining, upstream and downstream.
David Copley from the National Security Council lamented the fact that onerous permitting and litigation frameworks have resulted in a 29-year timeframe for opening a new U.S. mine. Worse, the U.S. is graduating only 200 to 250 mining engineers annually. The Trump Administration no longer views mining as a “dirty old-world industry,” said Copley.
To reverse that trend, the U.S. today is investing in mining-specific projects, including equity investing through public-private minerals investment funds to funnel hundreds of billions of capital into the long-dormant mining sector. Project Vault builds on last year’s $2 billion allocation for a national defense critical minerals stockpile – the first in U.S. history for the civilian economy.
A third goal is to protect U.S. mines from strategic dumping and overproduction that leaves commodity prices low and reduces the value of assets and tax receipts while also harming consuming nations. That’s the genius of the preferential trade zone.
Finally, the U.S. is rewriting regulations that have stymied mining projects, including streamlining environmental impact statements so they can be completed within 30 days.
By highlighting the return of mining and processing to the forefront of U.S. policy, Vance and Rubio sought to enlist global cooperation in building an international coalition to wean the rest of the world from Chinese hegemony in the critical minerals and rare earths space.
It remains to be seen just how successful this long-overdue effort will be – but the alternative (doing nothing) is not a genuine option
Duggan Flanakin is a Senior Policy Analyst with the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow. This article was sourced HERE
One focus was on the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement (FORGE), now led by South Korea, and Project Vault, under which the U.S. will create a Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve as a public-private partnership designed to store essential raw materials at facilities across the nation. Project Vault is backed by a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and $2 billion in private capital.
Secretary Rubio acknowledged that “As we embraced what was new and glamorous, we outsourced what seemed old and unfashionable … and one day we realized we had outsourced our economic security and our very future. We were at the mercy of whoever controlled the supply chains for these minerals.” Whover, of course, refers to the Peoples Republic of China.
Vice President JD Vance reminded 43 foreign ministers that, “As much as we talk about the modern economy, the digital economy, the high-tech economy … as much as data centers and technology and all of these incredible things that we’re all working on matter, fundamentally you still have an economy that runs on real things. And there is no realer thing than oil … and … critical minerals.”
Vance acknowledged that the international market for critical minerals has failed to create domestic markets or dignified jobs and is thus failing to keep nations safe. With attending nations representing close to two-thirds of global GDP, there is certainly the capacity to make ourselves more independent, more self-reliant – “and that’s what we should be doing.”
Vance lamented that across Europe and North America dozens of mining and processing initiatives have been suspended or completely abandoned because sustained price weakness made financing impossible. Even advanced economies with deep capital markets are finding their projects cannot clear costs.
Bad as it is in the developed world, only a tiny fraction of global mining investment is reaching the point of actual projects in resource-rich developing economies. Capital infusions require that investors are confident that markets will remain stable long enough to justify the long-term commitments – and that confidence has been lacking.
We have, Vance added, created a market distorted beyond recognition – one that punishes strategic investment, punishes diversification, and punishes long-term planning. The Critical Minerals Ministerial is aimed at reversing those trends toward rewarding, rather than punishing, providing the materials for the technologies of today and tomorrow.
Vance singled out the Biden Administration for its inactivity. “They never sat down and tried to understand what are the critical deficiencies in world supply chains.” By contrast, the Trump Administration has mobilized public financing tools at an unprecedented scale, providing up to $100 billion in lending authority for critical minerals to the Office of Strategic Capital.
To reverse the sad reality that the U.S. had not built a primary smelter since 1980, the Trump team has “overturned old orthodoxies and taken direct stakes in high-value mining and processing companies.” Just last month two new smelters were announced, one of which is already fully funded, said Vance.
All that said, the reason for the Ministerial is to align trade policy, development finance, and diplomatic engagement towards a shared strategic objective, said Vance. That objective is to diversify global supply in the critical minerals market while strengthening the partner countries who help all of us in this shared effort.
The Trump Administration formally proposed a concrete partnership mechanism to return the global critical minerals market to a healthier, more competitive state – a preferential trade zone for critical minerals, protected from external disruptions through enforceable price floors, with referenced prices at each stage of production that reflect real-world fair-market value.
Rubio noted that last October the U.S. secured over $10 billion in critical mineral agreements across five countries. In December, stakeholders from around the world attended the PAX Silica Summit to launch a partnership dedicated to building a resilient silicone supply chain.
Iwao Horii, Japan’s minister for foreign affairs, urged nations to work together to prevent supply chain disruptions and lauded the launch of FORGE as an important vehicle for focusing on supply chain diversification. He promised Japan’s unwavering support on every aspect of demand and supply, mining and refining, upstream and downstream.
David Copley from the National Security Council lamented the fact that onerous permitting and litigation frameworks have resulted in a 29-year timeframe for opening a new U.S. mine. Worse, the U.S. is graduating only 200 to 250 mining engineers annually. The Trump Administration no longer views mining as a “dirty old-world industry,” said Copley.
To reverse that trend, the U.S. today is investing in mining-specific projects, including equity investing through public-private minerals investment funds to funnel hundreds of billions of capital into the long-dormant mining sector. Project Vault builds on last year’s $2 billion allocation for a national defense critical minerals stockpile – the first in U.S. history for the civilian economy.
A third goal is to protect U.S. mines from strategic dumping and overproduction that leaves commodity prices low and reduces the value of assets and tax receipts while also harming consuming nations. That’s the genius of the preferential trade zone.
Finally, the U.S. is rewriting regulations that have stymied mining projects, including streamlining environmental impact statements so they can be completed within 30 days.
By highlighting the return of mining and processing to the forefront of U.S. policy, Vance and Rubio sought to enlist global cooperation in building an international coalition to wean the rest of the world from Chinese hegemony in the critical minerals and rare earths space.
It remains to be seen just how successful this long-overdue effort will be – but the alternative (doing nothing) is not a genuine option
Duggan Flanakin is a Senior Policy Analyst with the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow. This article was sourced HERE
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